Unlikely Heroes (Warriors 102, Pelicans 101)

The Warriors found one way to avoid blowing a lead in the fourth quarter: blow it earlier in the game. After leading by 15 in the second quarter and 8 points in the third, the Warriors started the fourth quarter down by 1. But unlike the games of the past week when the team bogged down in half-court isolation offense, the Warriors managed a burst of crisp ball movement in the middle of the fourth quarter. Those extra passes and the open shots that followed were good enough to re-establish a 6 point lead in the middle of the quarter. The Warriors would need every point of it — and more than a little luck, following Eric Gordon’s open look at the buzzer — to escape with a 102-101 victory. It wasn’t pretty, easy or confidence-inspiring, but it was a much-needed win.

There are at least two perspectives you can take on a game like Tuesday night’s short-handed, white-knuckle match-up against the Pelicans. The truth, as with most debates, is likely adrift somewhere between the two takes. From one view, the Warriors didn’t solve their struggles holding a lead, allowing the Pelicans back into the game on several occasions due in large part to their own careless and unfocused play. The team shot a game-low 39% in the fourth quarter and easily could have lost the game if Gordon’s final shot doesn’t rim out. But from a more sympathetic view, the Warriors found unlikely contributors from the injury and suspension-ravaged abyss that is their depth chart. Jermaine O’Neal was a revelation in his first game back from injury, Draymond Green changed the tone of the game whenever he was on the court, and much-maligned Nemanja Nedovic and Marreese Speights found ways to make positive contributions in their limited minutes. From this unlikely list of heroes, the Warriors cobbled together a win in whatever way they could manage. Rather than falling apart in the face of a squandered lead, the Warriors grabbed ahold of the game at a crucial moment and took control — even if only briefly. The confidence boost that gives the team, particularly after some close frustrating losses, can’t be underestimated.

The key run for the Warriors occurred over a 3 minute stretch in the middle of the fourth quarter. Down 83-85 with 8:52 to go, the Warriors clicked back into the type of open-court ball movement and stingy defense on which they thrive. Curry hit a three off a pretty Thompson pass. Green ripped the ball away from Ryan Anderson at the other end. Barnes made a three off a multi-pass half-court set. The line-up of Curry/Nedovic/Barnes/Green/Speights (later replaced by Lee) played aggressively, holding New Orleans scoreless for over 2 minutes. Curry sank a jumper in the open-court room created by the Warriors’ previous success from the outside, then a few possessions later found a newly-inserted Klay Thompson cutting in similar space for a lay-up. Up 93-87 with 5:11 to go, the Warriors looked soundly in control of the game.

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Then the familiar fourth quarter problems reemerged. Curry turned the ball over, Lee forced up a jumper, and the Pelicans ran off 6 straight points. The game was locked up in a 93-93 tie with 3:51 remaining and the Warriors were back on their heels. Mark Jackson wisely called a timeout and regrouped his team. Immediately out of the timeout, the hero of the hour O’Neal knocked down a jumper and Thompson drained a three from the corner off a nice pass. The Warriors’ defense wobbled, but managed a few stops. At the offensive end, they remained active, with Lee getting to the line off penetration and O’Neal working for second-chance points in the paint. With under 45 seconds left, a 1-point lead and the ball, Jackson called for an O’Neal post-up. There’s no faulting feeding a guy who was, at that point , 9-11 for the night. O’Neal couldn’t quite find enough daylight to get off a good shot, but at least it was a purposeful attempt to play to a strength — not a broken set or a repeat of something that had failed repeatedly earlier in the evening (as with final possessions in the previous 2 games).

On the Pelican’s final possession, the Warriors became spectators to the shot that would decide their fate. Stephen Curry was on a cutting Gordon, but opted to hang near the paint to potentially provide help defense against a penetrating Holiday. Gordon continued his run out to the three point line, caught the pass from Holiday (well-defended on the other side of the paint by O’Neal, providing help) and had a wide-open shot because Curry had opted not to stick to him. Had the ball bounced in, the post-game story likely would have been the blown defensive rotation by Curry capping another Warriors’ collapse. But the ball clanked out, the Warriors (and their fans collectively exhaled) and disaster was averted — at least for one night.

Win or lose, the Warriors have reason to be encouraged by the performances of players beyond the “big three” of Curry, Thompson and Lee:

Jermaine O’Neal — Sidelined with an HMO’s worth of maladies and unsure if he’d be cleared to play until the final shoot-around, O’Neal wasted no time asserting himself in his return game. He scored 6 quick points to open the game and didn’t miss a shot until the middle of the third quarter. His physical presence was just as important as his scoring, with excellent rebounding and help defense to fill the big shoes left by Bogut. With the Pelicans rightfully worried about the Warriors’ shooters, O’Neal was able to make a variety of moves against single coverage. Whether you want to call it old-man strength or no-air savvy, O’Neal showed he still had a few moves left after 18 years of battling down low. The Warriors couldn’t have scripted a better return for O’Neal given Bogut’s absence, and even a fraction of this production going forward will be a huge boost to the offensively-challeged Warriors reserves.

Draymond Green — When the Warriors finally start closing out games instead of squandering leads, my guess is Green will be a big part of the solution. He brings an intensity and focus to the line-up when he’s inserted that is often lacking when the starters are sitting on big leads. His willingness to throw his body around after rebounds and loose balls keeps the Warriors aggressive, and his stellar defense often leads to easy transition buckets (as it did several times on Tuesday). With Green, the key is always getting the balance right between high-energy and manic basketball. He was dialed in perfectly against the Pelicans, playing most of his minutes as a stretch 4 responsible for both closing out on shooters and crashing the boards. It was the perfect assignment for the tweener Green — an inside/outside challenge that no one else on the roster handles quite so well.

Harrison Barnes — The numbers show that Barnes’ shooting efficiency is high behind the arc and in the paint. When he settles for mid-range jumpers — often fade-aways — the results are less impressive. Tuesday wasn’t a huge offensive night for Barnes, but it was an extremely efficient one. All but one of his shots were in the high-efficiency zone: the paint or three-point range. He showed nice body control around the rim, taking contact and still converting his looks. As we saw in the playoffs, Barnes can develop some individual momentum between games. When he finds something that works, he’s confident going back to it. Here’s hoping that his success penetrating and slashing against the Pelicans is something he’s able to replicate against future opponents. If/when the Warriors get bogged down in late-game offense, he’s versatility is a huge boost.

Nemanja Nedovic — The D-League is still a comparatively young part of the NBA universe and teams are still figuring out how to use it. Nedovic’s last week — a demotion to Santa Cruz for some lackluster performances, a breakout game against D-League competition, and a confident return to the NBA to play meaningful minutes — is a textbook example of the League’s untapped potential. Nedovic’s faith in his own game seems to have been restored (maybe a bit too much, judging by one of the threes he launched). While he was scoreless in 13 minutes, he looked comfortable with the ball in his hands and had no turnovers. He was also a pesky force on defense — moving his feet, taking charges and diving for loose balls. As with Green, his presence is best measured not by individual statistics but by the Warriors’ focus when he was on the court. A week or two ago, it would have been unimaginable that he’d log fourth quarter minutes in a close game. But Jackson has been forced to use him due to injuries, and Nedovic has risen to the challenge.

Marreese Speights — I have nothing positive to say about Speights’ contributions to the team so far this season. What made his performance on Tuesday a step in the right direction was how stripped down it was. He took only 3 shots (and only 1 jumper), used his big body in constructive ways in the paint and minimized his mistakes. The Warriors signed him to do much more than that, but those ambitions have been scrapped for now in favor of much more modest goals. Speights needs to recommit himself to playing with consistent energy, doing the dirty work and not settling for the 18-foot jumpers he loves so dearly. Those looks have a time and a place, but as the primary back-up at the 4, the Warriors need him to play like a big man. It wasn’t pretty, but Speights made his presence felt in the paint against the Pelicans.

With Andrew Bogut returning to the line-up in Dallas on Wednesday, the Warriors should get a boost on the defensive end. They’ll need it — all the starters but O’Neal played 39 or more minutes. Being a step slow against Monta Ellis is a recipe for a very long night. Still, if the Warriors can generate some momentum for their bench from their meaningful contributions against the Pelicans, they should be able to give the Mavs a test on their always-difficult home court. The Warriors’ backcourt is so offensively gifted that there’s almost guaranteed to be some outburst or run of scoring in every game that gives the Warriors an early lead. The challenge for the rest of the game is to play the type of aggressive but disciplined defense and offense needed to build upon any advantage. Mark Jackson may be no closer to finding that elusive balance of players and styles after Tuesday’s game, but at least they walked away from this round of experimentation with a win.

I have my doubts about O’Neal. I love what he has to say in interviews, but I loved what Stephen Jackson said in interviews too. Remember that? I can’t forget his role in the Artest incident in Detroit years ago. He can talk the talk. I need some time to see if can walk the talk. Certainly, maturity has probably set in with him. But as they say in Missouri, “Show me.”

I don’t like JOL’s offensive game. He’s been a black hole in the post, and he gets the ball early in possessions. The results have not been pretty. Fortunately, last night’s 9 for 11 percentage brought him up to 46% overall. But can he be consistent?

The jury is still out on O’Neal. Sorry to be a wet blanket.

NCDub

SOA
Yes, like hummingbirds, which are like butterflies, which are like smiles (as I tell the Grands)–wonderful to experience but a bit fragile & worth a bit of extra effort..

jsl165

The Saluki lives!

Son of Ahmed

Everyday was Halloween in the 70’s.

James Online

Jan G below had tthe right take on the game: Gordon’s shot goes in and this would be one nasty board today. I couldn’t believe that Steph would leave his man to edge toward the middle which was already well defended. Huge defensive mistake.

Somehow Steph still doesn’t look right to me overall. He’s drawing serious defensive attention, including lots of double teams even out high, and that’s part of the problem. But he looks less confident and his distance bombing isn’t what we expect.

Two big positive takeaways from the game: O’Neal really did look good. (Made me recall Marcin Gortat’s offer last year with Phoenix to reduce his salary in order to keep JON; I see why). If O”Neal can come close to that kind of performance, we will have cleared a major hurdle.

Nedovic didn’t score but looked great, and kudos to MJ for keeping him out there in meaningful minutes. Will be interesting to see what happens when Douglass comes back. Developing Nedovic should be a priority for a team that has serious bench problems.

jsl165

Re the second string: This is precisely what Novembers are for (to dangle a preposition).

jsl165

Well, keep an eye on Indiana just in case.

Son of Ahmed

JOL,
I’ve mixed feelings about Nedo. I agree that its good that he’s playing with some of the starters. If he doesn’t get minutes with them, we’ll not know how effective he can be since he is a facilitator and that role depends on having weapons around him.

On the other hand, if he is going to be effective, he absolutely must be able to get penetration and break down the defense so that he can use his passing skills to find the open man or finish strong at the rim as he has been able to do in Europe.

So far, he has not been able to get to the rim. Big problem. The players are finally starting to set picks for him, but that has not freed him to get to the hole as I had hoped it would.

Have you noticed him doing the reverse dribble in the half court sets. That worries me a little. It’s as if he can’t get free and he has to protect the ball in the most basic of situations.

I still am holding out hope from him. But he has to seize the moment while TD is injured. I’m glad that Jackson is giving him the audition.

Our Team

Yes, you are a true bball genius. But enough about you….: )

adamlauridsen

Fixed as well. Proofing always appreciated!

Our Team

How about, they “took it…and then almost gave it back.”? Baby steps. They showed good energy in the fourth quarter, and so did the Pelicans, who were desperate for a win after being embarrassed in San Antonio.

jsl165

The Cancer Jack quotation I remember best: “It ain’t me.”

I wouldn’t quite put him on the same interview level as JON.

jsl165

Right on the nailhead Col.

Son of Ahmed

I’m referring to interviews just after his extension where Jack talked about his work in the community and turning a new leaf.

I don’t think JOL is like Jack. He’s matured. But there are aspects of his game that I don’t like. And he could still be a loose canon out there. He got into it a little in the Portland game.

I’ll re-assess after the All Star break.

jsl165

Baby steps, SOA. Baby steps.

Progress is the key. He’s starting to get it.

earl monroe

yeah

jsl165

Yes, about that ‘new leaf’ . . . .

Which led directly to “It ain’t me.”

earl monroe

Ernie D was an assist fest!! maybe one of the best passers ever to play in the Association

Dubs Dancing Man

The Pelicans are a Western Division team now at 6-8. What’s your point?

Son of Ahmed

Well, as I said, if he can get to the hole, he’s gold on this team. He’s a GREAT passer, especially those dump offs on penetration. There are guys on every spot of the court who will convert off those passes. But if he can’t get to the basket, well, what’s the point? Let’s see if 1) the game can slow down a little for him, and 2) he can pick up his confidence and start taking some risks.

Have you noticed he looks a little like his countryman Drazen Petrovic? If only he could shoot like him.

qtlaw88

He’s hit a couple of Js off the P&R, baby steps. He’s light years better than Bazemore, right now.

Bryan Hsiao

lol Our team, I have had trolls hammering this blog for so long that I have to have a little post about “I told you so” 🙂

hey, my life had been all about my boys instead of me lately. Give me some props and spotlight please? 😀

Our Team

He’s trending up. Way up! He’s got great hands and pretty good moves, still. For a bu post with great leadership traits, what’s not to like?

qriusme

Seems so basic that when a guard drives to the hoop, that the defensive guards ought to guard the corners right away, since the backward passes up top would be much harder to make….

Holiday was lost under the basket with nowhere to go except that one place and he made a great play to get it to Gordon. I’m not surprised Gordon was open; he was about as far away from the play as you could be and his passing angle was from out of bounds under the hoop. I thought our mistakes were the prievious time or two on O, coming away empty.

Son of Ahmed

Well, if he plays every night like last night, I’d be ecstatic. But I fear that last night will feed the illusion that he is our go-to post option.

Before last night his fg% was south of 30% I believe. His 9 for 11 performance got him up to 46%. He was getting the rock early in possessions and hoisting up ill advised shots–nearly every time.

If he can shoot at 50% moving forward then I’m fine with him taking shots as a back up. But he hasn’t been shooting close to that mark.

Having said all that, he has been a very nice back-up because of his good defense and rebounding.

craig.w

What? He’s not a perfect point guard now? He’s not penetrating against NBA defenders? Cut him!

Son of Ahmed

I didn’t say he needs to be perfect or that he should be cut. But don’t you think a point guard should be able to penetrate? It’s kind of an important prerequisite, especially if said pg doesn’t have a reliable jump shot.

RickP

I see the same thing in Curry. A little foggier looking than usual. That said, when the fog cleared, he was most of the way to a triple double.

jsl165

Re Steph: I see two problems: Curry’s shooting eye isn’t yet fixed (be it the concussion or his normal slow season start), and he’s playing a step slow (perhaps self-protective). Getting hit on the head again last night didn’t help.

But. . . . .

1. I don’t think any of us has to worry about whether he’ll get his shot back into perfect form. He always does.

2. And I suspect the speed issue — or the ‘fog’ that some see (Doc’s piece last night on this was quite good) — will dissipate shortly, after he regains confidence after the concussion — a scary thing for anyone, and his first, I believe.

On a positive note, it seems to me Curry is consciously ‘using’ his current weaknesses to develop alternative strengths. For example, we’re seeing more interior drives — like that beauty last night where he froze two separate defenders before floating a six-footer in. He’s also developing more fully that cross-over when he’s doubled high — which gives him either a drive thru or a sight-line for a pass.

And his defense when the game was on the line was, in a word, stellar last night. (Well, apart from the last play; don’t think he’ll do that again, anyway.)

From a stats perspective, tho his shooting/scoring was way off (7-20, 16 points), and he shot no FTs (tho should have had a couple that weren’t called), the rest of his game was very, very good:

1. He ran the team the right way; and was allowed/able to do that in Q4 — avoiding the deadly isos that have been killing our O.

2. He led the team in RBs (tied with JON) and assists (another nine).

3. Tho he had two TOs, he more than compensated for them with three steals.

He’s pacing himself, picking up new strengths, getting closer on the speed and shooting. It might not all come together on the trip, but my guess is he’ll be back in Curry form soon.

coltraning

don’t want to assume, but am guessing he is making the point that many observers have made. The West is loaded. The Pelicans would be 9-5 in the East right now if playing mainly Eastern teams…it’s early yet, but this may end up being the biggest won-lost gap in West versus East games ever, and there have been some awful ones…the East has 2 good (great, actually) teams…

Son of Ahmed

Good post. Stats and scoring average aside, I see Curry as a stronger and more complete player this season. One more year of experience and physical maturity has helped his game. When he first came in there were questions about his ability to be a point guard. Dispelled long ago. Now we see that he is able to effectively walk the fine line between facilitator and shooter. He has excellent judgment when it comes to calling his own number or getting his teammates involved. And with so many potent shooters and scorers around him, he has really struck a nice balance. As I said in my post earlier, I do worry that his motor burns out a little by the 4th quarter because his game is so high energy. I think he is one player who needs scheduled breaks.

He looks very strong out there. His rebounding and quickness to the ball are impressive, and he has such a strong will and purpose on the court, an attribute you see in the superstars of the league. You can tell he takes it all in and is not going to plateau.

He is the best Warrior I’ve seen play. I did not get to see Barry or Chamberlain.

Thurston Hunger

Thoughtful and positive indeed, and I would acknowledge Iguadola for the same reason. Andre’s calm analysis after a game makes it sometimes hard to tell if the W’s won or lost.

Thurston Hunger

Trending up somewhat, but he needs to peak in the playoffs. So measured use of him is fine. At the same time getting back Festus (or developing one of the long shots) is likely as important for this season… And even more so for the 3 year plan.

That being said, I would be okay just resting JON tonight. Give me Dedmon or give me….well that’s about all that’s left at the center spot.

dr_john

Relative inexperience plus the loss of significant time at Vanderbilt due to knee injury. A work in progress, very bright young man. And so, also, is Dewayne Dedmon, in both respects. I’m ready to see some spot minutes, he’s kind of a young Jermaine O’Neal.

Thurston Hunger

For the perfect 1.0 score, the actual shot’s hang time exceeds the 24 clock?

And of course graded on a curve…

Down at .000001, Vinnie Johnson’s line drive microwave lasers.

dr_john

He really does have more of a jump shot than Bogut, backs his man into the key with scoring intent.
But I’ve seen Bogut in his friskier days, so there may be more yet to come there too.

dr_john

How many times can I vote this one up? Let me count the ways. . . .

dr_john

Again, not sure the board gets nasty if it was a game winner. I saw a LOT of positives

Thurston Hunger

The Festus knee thing is the same as college right, just extended. I cannot underscore how much I look forward to hearing an honest status and potential date for his return. Too early, and too much variance at present. And he’s young enough that rushing back is likely not worth it.

But a backup center like Festus is crucial as hopefully he can still jump (JON not so much but Jermaine is “old man strong” per Speights). I think the litmus test of how many charges your center takes is inversely proportional to their honest defensive capabilities.

Festus will provide a strong body inside vs Grizz/Clips when defense is turned up 17 notches…in the playoffs. And for that run, I expect MJax to have 2 of the top 6 on the floor pretty much 48 minutes for offensive capability, so JON’s post game will not be as sorely needed.

Getting ahead of things after game 15, but I am no Warriors’ agnostic.

Thurston Hunger

Agreed, progress was made…but a loss would have been deflating. I’m still looking for the W’s to keep that first half lead against a decent time through the second half.

But as noted earlier (was it Moto? SOA?) MJax is blending more with the subs, out of necessity or out of inspiration it doesn’t matter. That alone is a big plus…and gives those guys a better chance at earning minutes.

Geo77

D. Green’s new job description should be ‘run killer’. Every time there’s a run by the other team and he’s on the bench I wonder why Jackson doesn’t sub him in. When Lee was out for the playoffs the focus was on how Barnes got the minutes and performed, but the extra minutes Green got may have been just as big a factor in the post season success.

Eric Eiserloh

Another great summary, Adam.

The game ball has to go to Jermaine O’ Neal, a game time decision, who stepped up in a big way to fill our biggest void.
Everyone else pretty much played to our expectations

thewarriorsrule

i lol’ed at your opening sentence: the warriors found a way to win, by blowing it earlier in the 3rd qtr. if that leads to a winning formula, i’d take it!

as you mentioned in your previous blog, i think the warriors are starting to learn that their post-iso offense in times of much-needed buckets, are not a good option, as it is a one-and-done approach as you don’t get the offensive board, i agree. and plus, barnes, j o’neal, or klay are always fading AWAY in those shots, never taking it to the hole to get contact.

it’s sad to see how the warriors throw their whole game plan away in the 4th qtr and go to these wierd matchups, like david lee vs. anthony davis – c’mon really? i’m so tired of seeing lee try and take it to these athletic bigs and getting rejected at the end.

although j o’neal had a good game, i would have not given it to him to take the last shot either. ugh.

green: +12. what amazing defense that led to easy transition points. what more can we say or do to see him on the court more? i would have continued playing green or speights longer in the 4th over lee, until they did something wrong. putting lee in a time of need for defense is not a smart approach. i would like to see green take more of lee’s 4th qtr minutes.

i wouldn’t say nedovic was much maligned. i would say bazemore and speights were much maligned. but give jackson credit to finally putting these guys in positions to succeed. we finally saw bazemore contribute a bit more. as i said, we finally put them to their strengths. bazemore as a backup sg wing stopper, not a pg playmaker, and nedovic as a backup pg and driving it to the hole. i was actually impressed with nedovic’s defense in this game, props to him.

it was smart to put j o’neal back in at the end of the game too, as they needed an interior presence to protect the rim at the end after evans kept getting uncontested layups.

props to j o’neal with a vintage 18/8 in a much-needed win. i was surprised by his offense. now i see why they fed it to him as the go-to guy in the 2nd unit earlier in the season. but i hope we don’t expect this type of offense from him every game. it would be nice to see bogut this aggressive on offense! hello jackson, please give him more shots.

agree, we got very lucky on a gordon shot that went in and out at the buzzer – it would have been a curry defensive collapse again.

i also think the warriors should never go to their zone defense – every time they do, it leads to a blown defensive rotation for a wide open shot. i do like the klay on pg and curry on worst offensive player approach though.

it’s good to see klay as a consistent 20 point scorer in his 3rd year. i am surprised to see how the game has slowed down for him and he takes his time taking better shots now. totally shocked me. if only he can stop laughing every time he commits a foul now. c’mon klay, you know better than that, and YES, it IS a foul!!

barnes: wow, his game has improved! he added more offensive moves to his repertoire and has such good body control. i hope jackson can continue putting him in positions to improve his game.

Thurston Hunger

Yep QR…

Jim Barnett has said that most teams are correcting for that now, especially when the handling guard is on an angle where he’s pretty much going out of bounds with no chance at a shot. CP3 does that a lot.

That being said, I think guards previously were taught to fill the gap for long rebounds that might carom over the offensive and defensive players bodying for the weak side rebound.

As I posted before I think the W’s still cheat too much off that weakside corner SG or SF when Bogut is inside. Let Andrew (and the PF on the floor) battle for the board…and don’t give up that open look on the skip or kick out pass.

SurfCity

A road win is always good. Always!
—

As others have mentioned, great to see that game out of O’Neal. Don’t know if he was playing over his head, or not, but would love to see that kind production from him moving forward. If he could pick up regular minutes doing that, it would take some of the load off Bogut.